Welcome back to the Sunday column that you love so much and that we’re dying to publish every single week! Today it will be a Chara, because in today’s Anime Breakfast we talk about Light Yagami, the protagonist of Death Note!
The story of Death Note it’s one of those stories that made all of us anime fans passionate and which has become a cult in the world of this media, so much so that they even made a live action adaptation. We have already talked about Death Note in this episode, analyzing every aspect of the anime, from the story to the setting and themes. We also talked about the characters, but today we want to talk about one in particular. The Breakfast Anime character Chara is Light Yagamiprotagonist of Death Note!
A monotonous life | Anime Breakfast Chara: Death Note, Light and Corruption
The protagonist of this story is an ordinary high school student, living a life terribly monotonous and boring. There is nothing that makes Light Yagami’s life eventful or worth living, in fact every day is always the same. Same school, same students, same teachers, same family. Everything stays exactly the same every single day. Who has a creative mind, but above all lots of potential, he gets bored very easily with such a life, so still and devoid of great emotions. It also didn’t help that Light had no friends, in fact he was a lonely boy, with not even a girlfriend. His world seemed truly empty and devoid of any major event that could liven up his boring life a little.
This was until, at a certain point, while walking around the school, a mysterious notebook fell from the sky. The notebook fell right next to him, as he studied outdoors on a bench, in complete solitude. That mysterious notebook caught his attention, especially because the two words that gave the anime its name were engraved on it: Death Note. Out of curiosity, and without being seen by anyone, he took the black notebook and took it home. Considering how strange he was, and especially considering Light’s closed character, he didn’t show that notebook to anyone, not even his parents. The boy didn’t know that notebook it would have turned his life upside down.
Lots of power at a high price | Anime Breakfast Chara: Death Note, Light and Corruption
Once Light brought the Death Note into the house, he immediately took a look at it, curious as ever. It looked like any notebook, but the point is that it had mysteriously fallen from the sky and had a very strange and at times disturbing aura. When Light opened the notebook, he found a user manual and warnings. That instruction manual was located exactly on the first page of the notebook, so that anyone who got hold of it would understand what they were getting into and what the consequences would be. In the instructions it was written that the notebook was capable of killing. All you had to do was write down a person’s first and last name, but you had to know their face for it to work, plus it could also write down the cause of death.
Partly for fun and partly to deny it, Light turned on the TV and watched the news. There was a journalist live and under him there was her name and surname. Light wrote his name and surname on the Death Note, without writing the cause and, forty seconds later, the journalist died of a heart attack. Light began to understand the power he now held in his hands, but at a cost. In fact, among the rules in the notebook it was written that the life of the human owner would be shortened with each use. Furthermore, after a few days, a God of deathor rather one shinigaminamed Ryuk. Only Light could see it, as the owner of the Death Note that previously belonged to him. Ryuk would always be at his side, watching over him and, at times, even making fun of him while he saw him at work.
The fame of a killer | Anime Breakfast Chara: Death Note, Light and Corruption
Light had started with the assumption that he would use that notebook just to kill criminals, thus becoming a sort of anti-hero. However, as time passed, the world began to understand that something was wrong, that something was wrong. Every day more and more criminals died and they began to suspect that someone was killing those wanted criminals. Light, to prevent anyone from recognizing him, assumed the secret identity of Kira, so that he could send messages to the TV whenever he needed to do so. The more fame she had, the more power she had, the more Light enjoyed receiving all these merits and cleansing the world of the scum of humanity. But as expected, when there is a mystery to solve, they call in a very good detective: L. She turns out to be Kira’s nemesis, thanks largely to her frightening intelligence. L is able to predict Kira’s every move and has been able to corner him several times.
The bizarre thing is that, in order not to arouse suspicion, Light worked closely with L to help him solve the case. He had proposed of his own free will, obviously only to try to eliminate him. It wasn’t an easy thing at all, because L never revealed his real name to anyone, precisely because he somehow knew that criminals only died if their name was known. The battle with L was very hard to fight, so much so that Light had to use the eye of the shinigami. This eye was capable of discovering someone’s name just by looking at it, a power even greater than the Death Note itself. But with the deal he made with Ryuk, he was forced to lose half his life for that power. This was how Light managed to kill L and thus allow Kira to have another victory.
A pact is a pact | Anime Breakfast Chara: Death Note, Light and Corruption
After L’s death, Light he lost his mind even more. She had lived for years keeping her secret identity as Kira, and after she began killing criminals, she began killing innocents who wanted to stop Kira’s empire of terror. The one who had become a true legend, feared by many and loved by others, was slowly becoming more and more corrupt. Light’s initial intentions were good, in a way, but the methods she was using to “cleanse the world of evil,” as he thought, had become far too extreme. Obviously, L’s death had led to other consequences, and the most serious is the arrival of another detective, even more intelligent than his predecessor: Nthat is to say Near. Near turns out to be much smarter than L because, to confirm that all his suspicions were real, he began to indirectly cause Light.
As time passed the boy had become more and more arrogant and his ego bigger and bigger. Which is why, if provoked, he could lose control, especially touching his pride. When Near managed to swap the Death Note for a fake one, proved to everyone that Light was Kira, the serial killer that the police had been looking for for several years. The reason we understand that Light had totally lost control and been corrupted by power was his laugh proud and nervous at the same time tempo. In that moment Light knew his legend was over, but he was still desperately trying to save himself. Attempt failed, because Near’s guards shot him, mortally wounding him. All this, in reality, it was written by Ryuk, who was waiting for the best moment to end Light’s life, writing the cause of his death in the notebook. Thus ends the story of the legendary anti-hero serial killer.
The end of a legend
It is still not very clear what Light’s fate was after his death. In the Death Note rules it was written that whoever used it would end up neither in Heaven nor in Hell. There are many theories that talk about the possibility that, after death, Light has become a shinigami. In an unreleased episode in Japan, after the end of the anime series, we see a new shinigami, who is suspected to be Light himself. It is not possible to know for sure, everyone can have their own interpretation. The fact is that Light’s character is an example of how power can radically change a person who, even if starting with good intentions, can corrupt and bring out the worst in us, leading us to a horrible end.
What do you think about it? Do you think what Light did was right? Tell us yours in the comments! Continue to follow us on TechGameWorld.com for the next episode of Anime Breakfast, every Sunday at 8!
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